Herr Gott, dich loben wir, BWV 16

Lord God, we praise you ( BWV 16) is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Leipzig for New Year's Day and first performed it on 1 January 1726 on.

History and words

Bach wrote the cantata in his third year in Leipzig for New Year's Day in 1726. 's Day was celebrated as the Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord. The prescribed readings for the feast day were 3.23 to 29 Gal LUT ( "We are heirs through faith " ) and Lk 2,21 LUT ( " The prescribed circumcision and naming of Jesus after eight days "). The cantata text is taken from a publication from 1711 by Georg Christian Clay, the stresses to further blessing without reference to the readings of praise and thanksgiving for the gifts of the past and the request. The poet began the opening chorus with the first four lines of Martin Luther, the German Te Deum Lord God, we praise you. The following pair of recitative and aria looks at the past, another looks to the future. The poet had no final chorale provided, but Bach chose the last verse of Paul Eber Help me god goodness praise ( c.1580 ).

Bach led the cantata for the first time on 1 January in 1726.

Scoring and structure

The cantata is staffed with three soloists ( alto, tenor and bass), four-part choir, Corno da caccia for reinforcement of the chorale melody, two oboes, oboe da caccia, two violins, viola, Violetta (alternative) and basso continuo.

Music

In the opening chorus, soprano and horn take over the liturgical melody of the Te Deum, while the lower voices are performed in moving counterpoint, whereby they are amplified by instruments while I Oboe and Violin I form a fourth counterpoint voice. The following secco recitative ends with the words: " O, why should not sound a new song and we sing in fervent love? ". Consistently, the following sentence attacca begins with the voices: "Let us rejoice, let's look forward ." This unusual set combines elements of aria and chorus in a free da capo form. In the first part dominates the choir, in the central part of the bass solo. A second secco recitative leads to an intimate aria that was accompanied in 1726 by an obbligato oboe da caccia. In a later performance, perhaps in 1734, it was replaced by a Violetta, bringing a viola or a treble viol can be meant by Johann Gottfried Walther. The cantata concludes with a four -part chorale.

Recordings

• J. S. Bach: The cantatas - Sacred Cantatas Vol 1 Gustav Leonhardt, Tölz Boys Choir, King's college choir, Leonhardt Consort, Paul Esswood, Marius van Altena, Max van Egmond. Teldec 1972.
• The Bach Cantata Vol 20, Helmuth Rilling, Gächinger Kantorei, Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, Gabriele terror Bach, Peter Schreier, Philippe Huttenlocher. hänssler 1981
• Bach Edition Vol 4 - Cantatas Vol 1 Pieter Jan Leusink, Holland Boys Choir, Netherlands Bach Collegium, Sytse Buwalda, Nico van der Meel, Bas Ramselaar. Brilliant Classics 1999
• Bach Cantatas Vol 17: Berlin / For for New Year's Day / For the Sunday after New Year. John Eliot Gardiner, Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, Charles Humphries, James Gilchrist, Peter Harvey. Soli Deo Gloria 2000.
• J. S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol 16, Ton Koopman, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, Bogna Bartosz, Paul Agnew, Klaus Mertens. Antoine Marchand 2001.
• J. S. Bach: Cantatas for the Complete Liturgical Year Vol 4: " You are from Sheba shall come " - Cantatas BWV 16 · 65 · 153 · 154 Sigiswald Kuijken, La Petite Bande, Elizabeth Herman, Petra Noskaiová Jan Kobow, Jan van der crabbing. Accent 2006.
• J. S. Bach: Cantatas Vol 42 Masaaki Suzuki, Bach Collegium Japan, Robin Blaze, Gerd Türk, Peter Kooy. UNTIL 2008.